Teaching & Learning English
Dedicated to my friends This marks the end of another year Had we really made it that far? A question, with no answer to be found Never had an ending been so bittersweet Knowledge is shared, but friends are lost You always said to be positive Or, to never be negative Unknowingly, … Read more
It’s been a while It’s been a while— The same hallway, a leased background. Same talks, same shoes across the ground. The tree greens for the third time, Like it was during our first lines. Ceremonies pass, projects finish. Presentations complete, groups disband. Rivalries settle, relationships change. Seasons blur, time accelerates. When it all … Read more
War Girls BY JESSIE POPE There’s the girl who clips your ticket for the train, And the girl who speeds the lift from floor to floor, There’s the girl who does a milk-round in the rain, And the girl who calls for orders at your door. Strong, sensible, and fit, They’re out to show their … Read more
Men Who March Away BY THOMAS HARDY What of the faith and fire within us Men who march away Ere the barn-cocks say Night is growing gray, Leaving all that here can win us; What of the faith and fire within us Men who march away? Is it a purblind prank, O think you, Friend … Read more
This is for my current G7 ELL class but welcome anybody else to join in too. We are studying World War I poetry and the link below will take you to a poem by Siegfried Sassoon that is a little too long to study in class. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57220/counter-attack
“Ypres” is a poem by Laurence Binyon(1869-1943), he was a prolific English poet and scholar of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose career spanned 50 years. During this time, he authored numerous poetry collections and plays, two historical biographies, and several art history volumes, including books on the works of Asian artists, English … Read more
“The Dead” is a Shakespearean sonnet (consisting of three quatrains and a couplet), which expresses mourning and praise for the lives lost in war through beautiful imagery and contrasts. The poem is divided into two main parts. The first part(two quatrain)depicts the vivid life experiences of the deceased before their passing – joy, sorrow, … Read more
scallion oil noodles Stanza 1 Coming home late from work When I got home There was still light in the dim roo thick white smoke out of kitchen It was grandma making scallion oil noodles Stanza 2 beads of sweat on her forehead the hand holding the spatula turning red her hunched back seems more … Read more
Red-Braised Crossing The sizzle—pork meets iron like summer rain on concrete. Mother throws sugar in hot oil, watches it bloom umber, saves it with rice wine and silence. Steam carries soy through our 3rd floor walk-up. She teaches me to taste with my eyes closed— fat melting into surrender, skin holding its shape like memory. … Read more
“In Flanders fields”is a poem by John Mccrae (1872-1981) Born in Guelph, Ontario, a Canadian poet, soldier, and physician, this poem is written in a perspective of dead peoples, and also have the poppies, which symbols death, at the field and restate it in the end of the poem, connecting the whole poem together. The … Read more
1. The First Morning The backpack bulges, much too large, A new, stiff shoe untied. A wave that builds, a looming charge, With parents at your side. The doorway is a giant’s mouth, The hallway, a long mile. You navigate your way due south, And try hard not to smile. Until you see, upon the … Read more
When morning tiptoes, soft and gray, And night begins to flee, The silent dewdrops learn to play Upon the waking tree. The sun, a painter, dips his brush In gold and rose and flame, To color forth the thrush’s thrush And whisper every name— The name of every leaf unfurled, Of every blade of grass, … Read more